Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Vintage Coral Ridge Mall aerial

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - circa 1960s

Here's another vintage aerial postcard (yes, it looks like dirty mall pr0n) of Coral Ridge Mall. Card dates back to the sixties, I believe. I'm still trying to pinpoint what year this shopping mall first opened. I'm also not sure why the mall doesn't appear to maintain an official website (if they do, I sure haven't been able to find it), but current anchor stores are Target, T.J. Maxx, and Marshalls, last I heard.

An anonymous reader shared some fun memories of Coral Ridge the first time I featured it (initial comments reference the aerial in that original post):

"To the left right in front of Penny's is a Publix supermarket which is still open. Move further down in the picture and you will see the old Plitt Theatre (saw King Kong in '76 there), which was a nightclub last time I checked. I have never seen another building, much less a theater, that had this great architectural concave at the top of the roof. Very art deco-esque.

The interior had these wonderful skylights which let in ample yet understated lighting on a bright, sunny day. The ceiling was in a wave-effect pattern which only added to the mall's beauty. I also remember a small arcade where I saw Pac-Man for the first time! (It was on the left corridor exiting Penny's in the mall). They've since built a bigger arcade in almost the exact spot, but it wasn't as magical as the original.

Here is a current arial view of the mall in almost the exact frame. Notice all the new condominiums that have popped up over the years. This section of Ft. Laud is extremely affluent and ritzy, not to mention the property value has gone through the roof since the 70s. It's a realtor's dream."

Why would it be demolished? It was somewhat recently rebuilt and added onto. It's very popular now and there is rarely ever any parking unless you park in the far backside of the mall. If they were ever going to demolish it, it would have been in the mid-late 80's when the mall was absolutely dead and had little redeeming value whatsoever. From the 90's on, began a slow then accelerated revitalization and now it's quite a nice, and very busy place. As a matter of fact, the ENTIRE area surrounding the mall is being changed, including the large outdoor shopping plaze a mile or 2 south of it. The area has changed much in the past 20 or so years.

Coral Ridge is an example of what a good anchor store can do for a mall. When I went to the Old Navy store in the early 90's the mall was totally dead. Moving the Target store in from the North Ridge shopping center further west saved Coral Ridge. As far as tearing the mall down for upscale housing, anyone familiar with the condo boom in Ft. Lauderdale knows this is possible. For now the mall stands firm.

This was one of the oldest malls in the US. I believe it was built late 50's or early 60's. One anchor store was Britt's Department store long gone, I cannot rememorber what the other anchor was. Anyone remember?

Back then it was called Coral Ridge Shopping Center. The word "mall" for South Florida anyhow, didn't even exist then. It was built in the early 60's. Can't remember what year. Probably 60 or 61 and can't remember any other anchor stores, but when I was older I got my very first credit card at Britts. Still have it. Also when I was still riding my bike, me and my friends would peddle up to Britts on Saturday afternoons and watch a live TV show broadcast by I believe Ch.4, from the second floor from a real live studio they had there (does anyone remember that?). Saw Shelly Berman there and also Little Jo (Michael Landon) from Bonanza. I remember the women going nuts and trying to grab his cowboy hat. Grew up in Coral Ridge, then moved to Sunrise behind what is now The Galleria off E. Sunrise Blvd. then moved to the beach just North of Birch State Park, so I remember a lot. Ft. Lauderdale was such a great place to grow up in back then.